I agree with Al you are going to have a substantial investment in this fence. The other issue is that the containers should be of a material that doesn't bake in the sun. Why? You'll heat up the roots and bake the soil, making the upkeep that much more difficult than it already will be. I wouldn't do wood. Plastic only if UV stabilized and the bottom is wider than the top so everything doesn't tip over. Fired terracotta will be easily 100.00/per so you'll want to choose carefully and make sure the bottom is broad and the pot is not too tall. You are looking at containers for these sized plants that are 24-30 in diameter and same height, the larger the better for less attention on your part. I would also put landscape fabric over the top of the potting soil and mulch with wood chips or similar, to help retain moisture and shade soil. Dan

interior browning is ENTIRELY NORMAL ... increased by transplant.. and doubly increased by lack of water after transplant ... but you got that part ... generic soaker hoses are NOT engineered for hills ... as you suspect ... they can not even out the pressure .. so all the water is going downhill ... and that is why those are fairing better ... you water a conifer/tree when it needs water.. and that is best indicated by inserting your finger to the second knuckle and watering when it needs water ... the first year or two after transplant.. you are fully in charge .... or at least you are NOW.. lol ... i wouldnt be surprised.. if the ones that are doing best were the spring plantings... i will guess the ones 6 weeks later are struggling a bit more [if they arent downhill] .... because they immediately went into the hot part of summer with insufficient roots .... all you need to do.. is forget about the brown.. and get some proper water on them ... how is the bigger issue .... you can buy engineered drip line .... or you can cut yours down.. and with a couple hose fittings.. make a contraption that does one tree at a time ..just a 2 or 3 foot circle around the tree ... and run it.. until the ground is well moistened ... in the alternative.. a plain old sprinkler on very low pressure doing just 2 trees at a time should also work .... once the clay is properly wet.. a good blanket of mulch will help hold the water in the clay ... to avoid the great extremes of watering ... by next spring.. the brown stuff inside will be crispy.. and you can stick an arm in.. and work it all out .. which you should do every year or two anyway ... as the plant grows. it will shade out the interior.. and in years of drought.. the trees will show more browning then in other years.. but there will ALWAYS be interior browning ... good luck.. and thx for being the first in weeks to actually post a picture without us begging [or so it seems] ken

Hi Kevin, The variety of causes for what ails any plant is often vast ranging from drought, fertilizer burn, freeze/ thaw damage, insects, injury, fungus and disease. What often drives gardeners is immediate need and risk of inaction. For other perspectives try contacting your county extension office and sending in these pix. Also try one of several online sources such as Yardener.com, AskMelinda and Gardening Know How Q& A. You may not get to an exact answer as to what has caused this puzzling problem but it may help you decide if you have to take action or can watch and wait. These trees grow very slowly, only about 9-12" per year. I agree that fall planting is ideal though I didn't always understand just how much better things fare when doing that. Summer planting is super stressful. When I planted mine in June I lost 2 within a month. They were throttled by storms. I just went and bought new ones that I planted in fall. They did better, not having to cope with transplant shock, storms, drought stress and the rest. So don't worry at all, if you find that you can't correct the problem then either let them hang around and see how they do for one year and replace them next fall or go ahead and do it this fall. Considering their slow growth the replaced ones won't be far behind the established ones.

also better might be T. o. de groots spire ... you can do ANYTHING you please with your plants... they are your plants ... and if you mess them up ... get rid of them .. i dont understand your height comment .... you dont care how tall ... ???? just dont get into this.. i want them say .. exactly 12 feet ... because unless you are a monkey ... trimming things at height.. while balanced on a ladder... with a tool.. etc ... and also keep in mind .... what you can do now... might be a problem in a decade or two .... when you cant be up on the ladder ... checkbook gardening takes care of all that ... ken